After its introduction, the Gibson Les Paul went through a variety of modifications that culminated in 1958 in the still beloved Standard, with its sunburst finish and newly perfected double-coil, or humbucking, pickups. The humbucking pickup transmits less background interference, or hum, from electrical equipment, which can be a particularly annoying problem during recording sessions. It also cuts out some high frequencies, yielding a “warmer” sound that may be desirable or undesirable, depending on the music and the performer.
Fender responded to the success of the Goldtop by introducing the Stratocaster in 1954. This model may be the most influential electric guitar ever produced. It is easily identified by its double cutaway design and three pickups; previous guitars had two at most. (Since the strings vibrate differently at different points along their length, each pickup has its own character, and they can be combined in various ways, in or out of phase, to create numerous effects.) It also features Leo Fender’s patented tremolo system, a combination vibrato unit, bridge, and tailpiece.
In the hands of Buddy Holly and others, the Fender Stratocaster became an American icon, like the Harley-Davidson motorcycle. This is only fair, for most innovations of any importance involving the electric guitar have taken place in America (which may explain, at least in part, why rock ’n’ roll was invented and flourished here). One celebration of the Strat’s role in American vernacular culture can be found in Jonathan Richman’s 1989 song “Fender Stratocaster”: “Like the Dunkin’ Donuts in Mattapan / Like the Thrifty Drugs in Santa An‘… Fender Stratocaster, well there’s something about that sound.” A few years later Die Goldenen Zitronen (The Golden Lemons), a German punk band, paid homage to Richman’s composition with a song of their own, also called “Fender Stratocaster.” Such cross-cultural borrowing, which is virtually as old as rock itself, shows how the electric guitar has permeated the international music scene, making it one of America’s most successful cultural exports.
Fender and Gibson weren’t the only companies making solid-body electric guitars, but they were the pioneers, and their instruments are among the most sought after on the vintage market. Major competitors included Rickenbacker and Gretsch, although the latter is better known for its hollow-body electrics, which came to be appreciated for their tonal qualities after engineers learned to control the feedback problems. In 1964 Rickenbacker introduced its 360-12 model, the first commercially significant 12-string electric guitar, which was popularized by George Harrison in the Beatles’ 1964 movie A Hard Day’s Night. When Jim (later Roger) McGuinn saw the movie, he went right out and bought himself a 12-string Rickenbacker, which would soon give McGuinn’s group, the Byrds, its instantly recognizable jangling sound.
Because the sonic character of a solid-body electric does not depend on its shape, makers could experiment with a wide range of imaginative designs. The Stratocaster, modernistic and space-age yet still recognizably guitar-shaped, remains a classic of 1950s design. The Gibson Flying V was the firm’s first boldly shaped electric guitar. It was introduced in 1958 as part of a modernistic line of guitars, along with the angular, asymmetrical Explorer. These designs proved too extreme for the market and were soon discontinued. In the late 1960s, however, musicians like Albert King and Jimi Hendrix (who was recently named the greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone) helped revive the Flying Vs popularity, encouraging guitar makers to develop other adventurous shapes.
While the electric guitar was feeding rock ’n’ roll’s explosive growth, what about the genre of music that had started it all? In jazz the guitar lost its role as a rhythm instrument with the demise of the big bands in the 1950s. As a solo instrument, the electric guitar is still struggling to free itself from its associations with fusion (jazz for rock fans) and smooth jazz (jazz for office workers). Those genres do have their adherents, of course. And with such virtuosos as George Benson and Pat Metheny, jazz guitar is still alive and doing about as well as anything else in jazz. Yet if there had been no electric guitar, jazz today would sound pretty much the same, whereas rock ’n’ roll would not exist at all.
MONICA M. SMITH is a historian and exhibit specialist at the Smithsonian Institution’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
